At Work: Doing good can be noble career choice

Kay

Then there is Laurie Marker, who set out to save cheetahs nearly 25 years ago. Turns out, she's saving the world.

If Marker hadn't followed her "If not me, who?" philosophy, who knows if the work would be getting done.

First, a little background: This conservation biologist grew up in Southern California riding horses. She raised dairy goats and rabbits. Marker was a member of the 4-H Club and Future Farmers of America. From 1974 to 1988, she worked at Wildlife Safari in Winston, Ore., as veterinary clinic assistant and marketing and education director.

Marker's work with cheetahs began when she first encountered them in captivity in Oregon. "I had been doing research since the mid-'70s in Namibia, and no one knew anything about them. I kept saying someone's got to go save cheetahs. I always thought the 'they' factor would take care of it."

Marker wrote to people around the world. "They said, 'When you find out about them, let us know'." Then the cheetahs grabbed her. "The more I tried to find out about them, the more they engaged me, how their eyes can see so far, how they can run, how beautiful they are and yet how vulnerable they are. They get into your heart."

In Oregon, Marker raised the cheetah Khayam while studying how to return cats to the wild. With Khayam at her side, she traveled to Namibia and talked with farmers.

Then Marker went to work as executive director of the Smithsonian Institution's New Opportunities in Animal Health Sciences, a consortium of scientists that is part of the National Zoological Park in Washington, to learn about international business.

In 1991, she sold everything she owned. With her life savings of $15,000, Marker bought a 1978 Land Rover and moved to Namibia with two dogs and 14 trunks filled with research equipment.

It was "real lonely in the beginning," she said. But the only thing she feared was "whether I'd have enough petrol and if I could pay to fix my car if it broke down."

Marker went door to door to meet farmers who were killing cheetahs to save their livestock. She explained that cattle are not a cheetah's first choice of food and that if farmers kept other wild animals on their land, the cheetahs likely would leave the farmers' livestock alone.

The farmers listened. What came next was establishment of the Cheetah Conservation Fund.

Marker turned farmland and old buildings into an internationally recognized research and education center. She created a sanctuary for orphaned cheetahs, started a cheetah breeding program with genetics and veterinary clinics, began the Livestock Guarding Dog Program, and, has trained more than 3,000 livestock farmers how to live in a world with predators.

Marker's work has not only increased the population in Namibia of the most endangered big cat in Africa - and the fastest land animal, running up to 70 miles an hour. Her work also helps humans and wildlife habitat coexist. And that can help save the entire ecosystem.

"The cheetahs took me down a path to understand how the world has needs and to realize that if they're going to be saved, their survival is linked to all kinds of complex systems."

As a result, Marker's work has helped create conservation policies and programs and develop a biomass industry that harvests encroaching thorn bush to make fuel logs. This not only restores habitat for cheetahs but also provides jobs and fuel for cooking and heat.

Marker is in the United States this month speaking and working with entities such as the Clinton Global Initiative to increase awareness, raise money and find corporate partners.

Her career has opened up a lot of eyes and improved many lives beyond those of the cheetahs - all because the "they" she had hoped to find was herself.

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Send comments to career consultant Andrea Kay by email to Eandrea@andreakay.com or by mail in care of USA Today/Gannett, 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22108. Follow her on Twitter @AndreaKayCareer and on Facebook at AndreaKayCareerAdvice. Her websites are lifesabitchchangecareers.com and andreakay.com.

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At Work: Doing good can be noble career choice

Nearly 25 years ago, Laurie Marker set out to save cheetahs. 'I kept saying someone's got to go save cheetahs. I always thought the 'they' factor would take care of it.' Turns out the 'they' she had